Posted by Jeff Short on September 13, 2016 · 1 Comment
And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
– Proverbs 5:12
Solomon continues the future lament and state of regret that awaits the man taken by the strange woman. He realizes too late he is a fool, because fools hate knowledge (Proverbs 1:22, 29-32; 15:5). He regrets discounting the reproofs of wisdom (Proverbs 1:25). In the end, he becomes a proverb (Proverbs 13:18).
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Posted by Jeff Short on September 12, 2016 · 1 Comment
And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
– Proverbs 5:11
Mourn means to growl or moan. It is the sound of an animal in distress. Last is the end and so the end of life. Solomon warns that refusing to heed such warnings will bring you to howling misery and regret. The flesh and body being consumed is sometimes thought to be indication of disease but I don’t find that compelling. Giving oneself to pursuing the strange woman is a wasted life and wreaks ruin. This verse pictures one at the end life regretting and lamenting his path and the squandering of youth, strength, and the stable support of a good wife. It is a regret of wasting what cannot be recovered.
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Posted by Jeff Short on September 11, 2016 · 1 Comment
Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
– Proverbs 5:10
Loss of wealth and wealth-getting ability are common to adulterous men (Proverbs 6:26). A very few seem to carry on famously in that way, but they will come to destruction eventually. The law counted adultery as a capital crime (Deuteronomy 22:21). It doesn’t seem that was carried out consistently. A lesser sort of punishment could have been slavery. It could also refer to the fact that a disgraced man was more vulnerable to extortion and oppression rather than a legal recourse. Either way, an adulterous man loses dominion of his own life.
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Posted by Jeff Short on September 10, 2016 · 1 Comment
Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
– Proverbs 5:9
This verse provides the alternative to keeping far away from the strange woman and her door. Honor means beauty and majesty. It could mean vigor, but the context seems to point to a loss of integrity and good reputation. The giving of years refers to losing them in some way. The cruel could refer to slave masters that a man is subjected to through loss of wealth and respect. As Solomon continues to count the losses, it is clear a man has much more to lose than could ever be gained this way.
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Posted by Jeff Short on September 9, 2016 · 1 Comment
Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
– Proverbs 5:8
Wisdom discerns the way of evil and folly and does not begin in it. Remove and come not nigh are the heart of this admonition. We could say keep away and don’t even go near. Joseph once made a narrow escape though he was near enough to still come to trouble (Genesis 39:7-12). I suppose we could debate what his level of responsibility was in the matter, but the text tells us she sought him day by day and that he entered the house with no one else present. If nothing else, let his account reinforce the wisdom of Solomon that we keep away and don’t go near.
The New Testament echoes the command of wisdom here (2 Timothy 2:22). Jesus also spoke to this with terms of urgency (Matthew 5:28-30). Each generation has some particular applications of this verse, but the intent is always the same. Stay away. We need wisdom to discern the strange woman, for it was the young man devoid of it that was caught by her (Proverbs 7:7-13). Having discernment, let us practice radical avoidance.
Way is road here as elsewhere. It speaks to the path, or course of life you are on. Solomon instructs to remove your way far from the strange woman. This would include rerouting your life if necessary to avoid “accidentally” bumping into her. That would certainly include the online world today as well. The door of her house is the entrance, the way in. Applications are numerous but the point is clear. If you do not come near the entrance, you will not be inside the house.
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Posted by Jeff Short on September 8, 2016 · 1 Comment
Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
– Proverbs 5:7
Verses 7-14 describe the consequences or costs of adultery. Solomon renews the admonition to the children to listen to the wise father. They are to listen attentively to the words of his mouth so as not to depart from them. To depart is to turn aside and to go in the way of the strange woman is certainly to turn aside from wisdom to follow great folly.
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Posted by Jeff Short on September 7, 2016 · 1 Comment
Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
– Proverbs 5:6
The center of this verse is the key to understanding the whole—“her ways are moveable.” Underlying her changeable ways is the design to deceive and ensnare. The strange woman is practiced in many arts of temptation, so she changes easily from one to the other to catch her victim. She also changes to prevent any preponderance of the true path of life. She doesn’t want men to consider what they are doing or what the consequences will be.
She is also unknowable in her true heart. She is a flatterer and deceiver. She is adaptable to suit her ends but a man can never really know her ends. What she really thinks or feels is concealed. The contrast with marriage comes later in this chapter, but here we see an inescapable reality with the strange woman. She may provide a moment of physical pleasure but she can never provide the deep, intimate connection and emotional satisfaction a man has with his own wife. That relationship develops and deepens over time between a husband and wife who love each other. The strange woman only brings ruin and misery and everlasting destruction to those who cannot keep from her way.
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Posted by Jeff Short on September 6, 2016 · 1 Comment
Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
– Proverbs 5:5
Feet and steps continue the theme of a path or way, which stands for the course of life. These are continually contrasted in this first section of Proverbs. The strange woman presents a companion picture to the way of the evil man warned against earlier (Proverbs 2:12). Death and hell continue the death symbol from the sword in the previous verse. The warning of death is pointed and has two main senses. First, it is hyperbole for a life that is destroyed through adultery. Rarely does adultery end in physical death, but it certainly ends in destroying lives. Second, death in Proverbs is often in consideration of the spiritual and contrasting from the eternal life of wisdom. The strange woman’s is not a good way and the wise will not begin in it.
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Posted by Jeff Short on September 5, 2016 · 1 Comment
But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
– Proverbs 5:4
End means future and is a stern reminder there is an after, as Kidner pointed out. She may at first appear with smooth sweetness and delicious promises of where she is going but the reality is opposite. Rather than sweetness is bitterness, and rather than smoothness is sharpness. Solomon uses two figures to illustrate how all adulterous activity must end. Wormwood is usually related to bitterness and is a symbol of suffering in Scripture (Deuteronomy 29:18). The sword is obviously a symbol of death as that is what her house inclines to and her path leads to (Proverbs 2:18).
Solomon demonstrates the nature of wisdom in this warning. Wisdom considers and weighs. Wisdom looks to the end or the outcome of a path and not just the exciting prospect at the beginning. In relation to the strange woman, Solomon intends for this end to be considered before she is ever met in person (Proverbs 5:8).
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Proverbs 5:12
Posted by Jeff Short on September 13, 2016 · 1 Comment
And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
Solomon continues the future lament and state of regret that awaits the man taken by the strange woman. He realizes too late he is a fool, because fools hate knowledge (Proverbs 1:22, 29-32; 15:5). He regrets discounting the reproofs of wisdom (Proverbs 1:25). In the end, he becomes a proverb (Proverbs 13:18).– Proverbs 5:12
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